OSCE to have 400 observers in Ukraine

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that around 400 observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that around 400 observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would be in Ukraine over the coming days to monitor the political and security situations in the country after Russia agreed to the deployment of observers.

Steinmeier speaking during his visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, for a meeting with Ukraine’s Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to discuss the latest developments in Crimea, said he hoped the presence of the observers would lower the tensions in the area.

Ukraine's parliament speaker, Aleksandr Turchinov, also met with the German foreign minister, after which he reaffirmed that Ukraine will protect its land despite its political and economic struggles, adding that Ukraine’s government believes that the guarantor countries will fulfill their responsibilities under the Budapest Memorandum to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

Turchinov stated that Russian intervention in Crimea is not only a threat for Europe but also around the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law the annexation of Ukraine's strategic peninsula of Crimea following a referendum in the region where around 97% of voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.

The United States, the European Union and Ukraine regard the vote as "illegitimate."